Country Artists Denounce Charlottesville White Supremacist March on Twitter

A number of country artists used Twitter to speak out against the white supremacist marches in Charlottesville, Va., on Friday (Aug. 11) and Saturday (Aug. 12). Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Maren Morris, the Brothers Osborne and more condemned the gathering, and shared their thoughts about the White House's response to the situation.

According to the Washington Post, about 100 white supremacists, white nationalists, Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis marched on Charlottesville's University of Virginia campus on Friday night. They were carrying citronella tiki torches -- a fact that many online commenters, some country artists included, poked fun at -- and reciting chants such as "White lives matter" and "You will not replace us."

On Saturday, more white supremacists, white nationalists, Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally in downtown Charlottesville's Emancipation Park, in order to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Black Lives Matter activists, clergy members and more counter-protesters faced off against them, causing Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency around 11AM.

Police dispersed the crowds following Gov. McAuliffe's declaration, but the protests continued elsewhere in downtown Charlottesville. On Saturday afternoon, one person was killed and 19 more were injured when a speeding car struck another car, then ran through the gathered crowd.

"Hate came to our town today in a way that we had feared but we had never really let ourselves imagine would," Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones said at a press conference. Gov. McAuliffe added a message to "all the white supremacists and the Nazis who came into Charlottesville today: Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth.”

For his part, President Donald Trump tweeted, “We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Let's come together as one!” Some have called on the president to specifically call out the white supremacists, white nationalists, Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis, rather than speak in general terms.